Pleasant area but nothing much going on. We did the Cup Noodles Museum and we had fun. It was ‘educational’ in a way and you get to customize your own cup noodle (and doodle on the cup). It’s 300yen for each cup noodle.

Also went to Red Brick Warehouse but it’s nothing much. Just to take photo, browse the shops and restaurants.



Then we went to Kirin Beer Factory. It was really good. The tour is free, and preferably you make a reservation beforehand. As there were only 3 of us, though without reservation, we managed to join the tour. You will see the process of how their Ichiban Shibori (signature) beer was made and taste it. The best part is undoubtly, beer session. You’ll be seated and you can have as many beer as you like (they will serve 3 types of beer) within estimated 30minutes. They will also give you snacks to munch along with your beer. Opposite is a shop where you can buy souvenirs and more snacks! Note the last tour is at 4pm and the place closes at 5pm.

At the end of the day, walk around the port/ garden/ observation and check out the night scenery.

We spent too much time in Enoshima, thus missed out on few places in Kamakura. Enoshima was good; we managed to visit Enoshima Shrine and 3 other key temples: Hetsuno-miya, Nakatsuno-miya and Okutsuno-miya. Also went to the coast – and trust me, it’s a very very long walk with many many many steps. So think twice about going down if you have parents/ elderly with you.



Kamakura: Buddha statue, Meigetsuin and Kamakura High School Station (Kamakura koukou mae eki).
Meigetsuin – Hydrangeas yet to fully bloom, it was pretty green. Go in June where it should be full bloom.



Kamakura High School Station – for that Slam Dunk photo scene.

Shibazakura



Entrance fee was free as there aren’t many flowers anymore. Spring is already over. The bus ride was about 40minutes, cost around 1,490yen for return ticket.

Lake Yamanaka



Stayed a night there, in an inn - Hatago Ichiya. It’s ryokan style but with no onsen. Toilet and shower room is to share, located outside the room. You are also expected to lay your own futon at night.

Hatago Ichiya is a small inn but the owner has plenty of bicycles that you can use (without charges) and cycle around the lake. One of my best experience was cycling around the Lake and then stopping somewhere for breakfast, overlooking the Mt Fuji (we bought light food like onigiri/ bread and eat near the lake area).
Must try onsen: Beni Fuji no Yuu; go earlier and you might be able to see Mt Fuji in the outdoor onsen.

Note that you’re charged 800yen for entrance, 200yen for slippers (must use theirs), 200yen for small towel, another 200-300yen for big towel and another cost (also 200-300yen) for locker. So remember, bring your own towel (big and small) so you can save on those.

Lake Kawaguchiko



Personally, I highly recommend staying in Hotel Koryu. Bathroom and toilet is attached to the room and the futon, room design is beautiful. Guests will have rooms facing Lake Kawaguchi. They also have 2 onsen – on 1st floor and 2nd floor. The one on 2nd floor is outdoor (but you can’t see the lake or Mt Fuji as it’s enclosed/ covered with plants for privacy). The 1st floor area also an indoor and outdoor onsen.

In Kawaguchiko, we did 2 things: Took the ropeway to Mt. Fuji Panaromic Ropeway (formerly known as Mt. Kachi Kachi). We thought the place will be big but it’s actually pretty small. There’s observatory, love bell, *karawake throwing, shops and hiking trail. If you hike down, it will take 2-3 hours?



*I want to share abit about Karawake throwing. You can buy the ‘cup’ like karawake at the side of the shop. Come down to the area and try your luck. You have to stand behind the wooden barrier/ fence and throw your karawake through the loop. For 100yen, you get 2 karawake. People throw it to ‘repel’ evil, find/ get a good match or luck.

The following day, we went to Chureito Pagoda; it’s beautiful there but certainly the steps doesn’t trail behind what we experienced in Enoshima hahahaha. Also dropped by Oshino Hakkai to experience the ‘water village’ and read up/ check out the lakes around.

The Yamanashi area is famous for local delicacy Houtou noodles – flat, broad noodles that tastes like Chinese mihun kueh. The dish is cooked with many vegetables such as pumpkin, mushrooms, cabbage etc. A must eat, and you can visit “Houtou Fudou” restaurant which is right opposite Kawaguchiko station.

Nothing much to elaborate, going back to the places I went in previous trips. Uniqlo has a lot of JUMP 50th Anniversary collections and Ramen collections (Afuri Ramen, Menya Musashi etc designs) which you can buy for 990yen. The Ginza shop also has clearance of old OP shirts collection (whereby I find the designs better than JUMP’s version hmmm) at 890yen per piece, but only XS and S available. These designs you can’t find it in Malaysia or elsewhere.

Food: Tried Afuri ramen as recommended by Belphegor but I find the yuzu taste a little too strong for my liking. There were 4 of us (made a friend there – solo traveller - and hung out with him for a while), we tried the shoyu ramen, spicy ramen and tsukemen. 2 liked the taste while the other 2 didn’t quite fancy the strong yuzu taste. In the end everybody tried Ichiran and preferred Ichiran. This is based on personal experience. Everyone’s taste in food is subjective.



Also, if you like dogs, there is a Mameshiba Café in Harajuku <3 780yen for 30minutes, including a drink.

Sure find Tokyo changed a little since my last visit.

Kinugawa
It’s one of the most interesting place that we went.

Suspension Bridge



Went to the suspension bridge in Kinugawa. It’s known as Kinu-Tateiwa-Otsuribashi Suspension Bridge. It’s not very long, about 140m for pedestrians to walk. And yes, because it’s a suspension bridge, you can feel it shaking at times. Very interesting and the view was beautiful. Underneath it is the Kinugawa river.

ESPO Footbath Café


Right next to the entrance of the bridge, you will see a ‘footbath’ café – ESPO – where you can order food (mostly hotdog, fries, beer, coffee etc) and sit outside overlooking the bridge. Have your feet soaked comfortably in the onsen water while you have a meal/ drink overlooking the bridge. You can choose to sit outdoor or indoor (no footbath/ view).

Kinugawa River Boat Ride



At the cost of 2,800yen per person (adult), it’s a very pleasant and refreshing boat ride. There is a boat (more like a big sampan) available every 30minutes. It cruises along the Kinugawa River Valley, manually rowed by the guide who will also share you the history, stories and rock formations (that you see along the ride) – but it’s all in Japanese.
http://linekudari.com/#price

The boat will stop on a jetty nearby a bus station. With the boat ticket, wait for the bus to arrive and ride the bus back to the main station. The boat ride includes return bus ticket. In fact, the bus driver will also give you a ‘tour’ along the way by explaining about the town and city. Note: sit on the seats/ rows behind the driver. You’ll be able to see an area where creepy human life-sized dolls were put up along the street. Didn’t manage to take a photo as it was too fast.

Nikko



Stayed in Nikko Tokanso Inn – it was decent. The ratings and comments on Booking.com was over rated, I must say. Breakfast was just decent, nothing fabulous. The onsen was pretty good although I believe the temperature is pretty high (probably >44.5*c).

Note: You have a choice for Japanese or Western breakfast. However, the only difference between these 2 is Japanese breakfast gets rice and green tea, while Western breakfast gets bread and coffee/ tea. The Western breakfast still get served yuba ゆば (beancurd – the local delicacy of Tochigi), salmon and side dishes the same as Japanese set.

Note II: the town is very “quiet” especially evening time. I recommend eating at Hippari Dako restaurant – the food was delicious and you must have the yakitori. It’s one of the best Yakitori I’ve ever had.

https://gurunavi.com/en/gfem000/rst/?__ngt_...PLdeVBM65YiEzm1
P/S: I left a sticky note on the wall. If you’re there, try your luck finding it!

Toshogu Shrine, Futarasan & Rinnoji Temple
The most important shrine to visit; its part of the UNESCO world heritage and really big so allocate at least 2-3 hours for this to slowly enjoy, read the info and enjoy the craftsmanship.

Quoted from Japan Guide:



You can read up on Nikko’s history here: http://nikko-travel.jp/english/attract/culture.html

Didn’t manage to visit Futarasan due to the limited time of shuttle bus.

Rinnoji Temple: It’s a small temple with many Buddha and Kannon statues as well as artefacts etc displayed inside the temple. You can also visit the museum which is opposite the temple. You’ll have to buy entrance ticket to go in.